A Christmas weekend storm could drop 4 to 6 inches of snow — and perhaps even a foot or more — on the Richmond area, experts say.
"This is definitely a significant storm and is really anomalous for this time of year," said Mike Montefusco, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Richmond's heaviest snows usually fall in January and February.
While 4 to 6 inches appears likely this far out, it's possible the region could get more than a foot or as little as 2 to 3 inches, Montefusco said Wednesday.
The track of the storm is uncertain, and that makes the forecast tough this far in advance, he said.
The storm should begin Saturday afternoon or night and continue through much of Sunday.
"At this time, it looks like Christmas Day will be fine," Montefusco said.
Commercial forecaster David Tolleris in Chester predicted a dangerous storm that could drop a foot of snow and possibly two.
"This is not a joke," Tolleris said.
The biggest snowfall on record for Richmond is 21.6 inches on Jan. 23-24, 1940.
The storm is expected to move north or northeast along the Atlantic coast Christmas night through Monday.
The closer the storm comes to Virginia's coast, the more moisture it can push into the state to create snow, said Jerry Stenger, director of the University of Virginia's climatology office.
"I'm not totally convinced we are going to have an impressive snowfall, but it certainly cannot be ruled out at this point," Stenger said.
rspringston@
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